Category: food

So this is my favourite breakfast and I just had to share it with you. First of all cut a finely sliced tomato or two. Place it in the bottom of the pan and put on the heat to cool. Use a non-stick pan. Please. Disastrous if not.

Whilst that’s cooking chop up about 100 gms of spinach – I like it fine, but however you like it just go for it. Get 5/6 egg whites in a bowl and stir until there is a little air in them – it will make them a bit fluffy later. Add the spinach and pour over the cooked eggs. Cook gently, placing a lid on the top to steam the mixture in the middle.

After about 10 minutes put a plate on the top of the pan and flip over – it should just pop out. I usually add a bit of salt, pepper and some chilli.

Grab a black cup of coffee, the weekend paper and I promise you it will be a good day. Do any of you have any tips like this that are practically calorie free but delicious. Because I’m not on bread at the moment, I usually, if hungry, put some on rice cakes. Nice and crunchy.

Some days, when you’re on this eating regime (see how I didn’t call it a diet), you feel alone. All alone, but supported at the same time. This photo I took reminded me of how I am feeling today.

I am down about 6kgs on and off and that is really good, but I expect way too much of myself. I need to take the time. Enjoy. Read. Recover and rediscover the love I have for my body and all it gives me every day.

I don’t know how many times on this blog I have said the words “it’s finally time. I am taking responsibility for my health and happiness”. Well my friends I am going to say it again.

I’ve had quite a hard time of it lately. I was not looking after my health, I was drinking way too much, I was eating about three times the average amount of food a normal person should eat, sometimes secretly. All of this ended up with me gaining not only weight but also questioning who I want to be for the rest of my life.

On July 11th this month I turned 47. Now I’m not big on the age thing. It is what it is, but this time I could actually notice myself aging. I could see my skin getting that little bit thinner and dry. My period, which was as reliable as Big Ben, was now all over the place, sometimes not coming for months at a time. Gravity was beginning to really come calling and I was feeling VERY sorry for myself.

Knowing that I hadn’t had proper ‘get on a plane with a passport vacation’ for years, my oldest and dearest friend talked me into going to Phuket to a luxurious villa. Needless to say from the picture above it was amazing.

Unfortunately the second night I fell over and badly sprained my ankle leaving it incredibly difficult to walk for the rest of the holiday. For me this was a real wake up call. If I don’t start doing something about my health, my weight and my work/life balance the rest of my life is not going to get any better. If anything, worse.

Our private infinity pool.

We talked a lot on that vacation about health and our lives and where we wanted to be. He had a good friend who passed away some years ago now. She tried for years and years to give up smoking but couldn’t. During her career she worked incredibly hard for all they had. She was the hardest of workers. It came to her one day, a little too late, that if she is such a hard worker, then giving up smoking is just hard work and I know I can do that.

Now I am sure I‘m not doing this story any justice but it rang true with me. I work bloody hard, so this is just another something I need to work hard at, and to me it makes total sense. I have worked hard all my life in my career; surely I can work hard at something that is going to keep me alive and feeling good.

Yes, it does sound way too easy but it’s put my head into a totally different space and that’s a good thing. So here I go.

I’m thinking of going Paleo – I have been contemplating it for a long time. I have bought most of the books on this subject and I’m set. I found the illustration above on Cave Girl Eats and it really rang true for me. I love being able to source and cook fresh food. I love going to the markets on the weekend and buying what’s in season.

I’m lucky enough that I can afford to support local producers and ethically I do feel as if I have some responsibility to do it as well. So let the Paleo games begin.

There are a number of great sites for support, recipes and Q&A. My favourite is Nom Nom Paleo. You should check out her wonderful site and amazing iPad ap. It’s the bomb.

I had to share this wonderful article I came across just now about eating breakfast. From Fast Company (one of my favourite work blogs) they say:

Did you skip breakfast today? If you did, you are probably already thinking about lunch. You’re probably pretty hungry. And so you’re going to eat a lot. In fact, you’re going to eat 4.9% more food at lunch. The longer you wait, the more you’re going to eat. Do that every day and it starts to add up:

And what will that food be? Probably something not so good for you. Eatery found that, regardless of whether or not you eat breakfast, you eat worse and worse throughout the day. Lunch is worse than breakfast, and dinner is worse than lunch (and don’t even ask about snacking). But breakfast is a good way to mitigate that. Eat a good breakfast and you start making better food decisions for the entire day–even late into the night.

This week has been moving along slowly. I’ve had a couple of falls off the wagon, but promptly picked myself back up and got on the diet train. I’m trying so hard not to throw it in and realise that this is a life decision, not a sometimes when I feel like it decision. That’s a hard thing to do. It’s not that I’m eating sausage rolls and chips. I’m all out healthy as you can see from my lunch today – just a little too much of healthy.

Work has been busy and I like it that way. I am officially hopeless without deadlines looming. I’ve always been this way and have learnt to accept that I’m like a rudderless boat without clients wanting their work NOW.

I am enjoying my poached egg blog a lot and seem to be getting some great feedback. I also like how it falls into my eating plan (apart from the toast but I forego my rice cakes that day so it all equals out). It’s a nice treat for the start of the day. What I’m amazed about is that most people have an opinion on how they like their poached eggs cooked and what constitutes good vs. bad. Here’s a link to my rating system and would love to know what you think.

So anyhow that’s been my week. I thought I would leave you with some goodness I’ve found around the interwebs to enjoy.

Lunch today consisted of the most wonderfully filling Salad Niçoise (with Salmon) at The Brisbane Hotel. It was just delicious. I’m not allowed Salmon on this diet but I figured that this is healthier than red meat and I only ate around 100grams so I am in the clear. The boiled eggs were left and I just ate the salad.

Yes, it had a few potatoes lurking in the bottom, but I will go easy with fruit tonight (oh lovely mango in my fridge, I’m coming to get you).

I weighed in yesterday with absolute fear. I was convinced I had put on weight. Much to my surprise and delight I had lost over 1kg. I can live and work with that for sure.

Work is beginning to get very stressful and I’m an eater when stressed…